1 errors were the most excusable of all those which prevailed during that zealous period. NOTES. 1 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 560 2 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 559. 35 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 1. 36 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 561. 3 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 556, 574, 37 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 562. 575. 4 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 590. 5 Dugdale, p. 119. Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 748. 6 Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 442. Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 566. Whitlocke, p. 77. 7 Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 444. worth, vol. vi. p. 569, 570. locke, p. 94. Rush Whit S Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 449. locke, p. 79. Whit 9 Clarendon, vol. iii. p. 66. 10 Journ. 13th of February, 1643 17 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 306. 19 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 621. 20 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 321. 21 Life of the Duke of Newcastle, p. 40. 22 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 506. 23 Rushworth, part iii. vol. ii. p. 633. 24 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 632. Whitlocke, p. 89. 25 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 507, 508.-See Warwic. 26 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 511. 27 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 638. 28 Whitlocke, p. 88. 29 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 641. 30 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 662. 31 3rd of June. 32 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 676. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 497. Sir Edward Walker, p. 31. 33 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 699, &c. Whitlocke, p. 98. Clarendon, vol. v. p. 524, 525. Sir Edward Walker, p. 69, 70, &c. 34 Rushworth, vol. vi p. 721, &e. 38 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 562. 39 Clarendon, vol. v. p. 565. 40 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 364. 41 Whitlocke, p. 114, 115. Rushworth vol. vii. p. 6. 42 Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 8. 15. 43 Whitlocke, p. 118. vol. vii. p. 7. 44 Whitlocke, p. 133. Rushworth 45 Clarendon, vol. V. p. 629, 630. Whitlocke, p. 141. 46 4th of July, 1644. 47 8th of Sept. 1644. 48 Dugdale, p. 737. Rushworth, vol. vi p. 850. 49 Whitloeke, p. 110. 50 Whitlocke, p. 111. Dugdale, p. 748. 51 His words are: "As for my calling those at London a parliament, I shall refer thee to Digby for particular satisfaction; this in general: If there had been but two besides myself of my opinion, I had not done it; and the argument that prevailed with me was, that the calling did no ways acknowledge them to be a parliament; upon which condition and construction I did it, and no otherwise, and accordingly it is registered in the council books, with the council's unanimous approba. tion."-The King's cabinet opened Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 943. 52 Whitlocke, p. 121. Dugdale, p. 758. 53 Such love of contradiction prevailed in the parliament, that they had converted Christmas, which, with the churchmen, was a great festival, into. a solemn fast and humiliation; In order," as they said, "that it might call to remembrance our sins and the sins of our forefathers, who, pretending to celebrate the memory of Christ, have turned this feast inte an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights." Rushworth, vol. vi. p.817. It is remarkable that, as the parliament abolished all holy days, and severely prohibited all amusement on the sabbath; and even burned, by the hands of the hangman, the king's book of sports; the nation found that there was no time left for relaxation or diversion. Upon application, therefore, of the servants and apprentices, the parliament appointed the second Tuesday of every month for play and recreation. Rushworth, vol. vii. p. 460. Whitlocke, p. 247. But these institutions they found great difficulty to execute; and the people were resolved to be merry when they themselves pleased, not when the parliament should prescribe it to them. The keeping of Christmas holy-days was long a great mark of malignancy, and very severely censured by the commons. Whitlocke, p. 286. Even minced pies, which custom had made a Christmas dish among the churchmen, was regarded, during that season, as a profane and superstitious vanity by the sectaries; though at other times it agreed very well with their stomachs. In the parliamentary ordinance too, for the observance of the sabbath, they inserted a clause for the taking down of may-poles, which they called a heathenish vanity. Since we are upon this subFeet, it may not be amiss to mention, that, beside setting apart Sunday for 54 Dugdale, p. 779, 780. 61 Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 830. Dug. CHAPTER LVIII. Moutrose's Victories....The new Model of the Army....Battle of Naseby.... Surrender of Bristol....The West conquered by Fairfax.... Defeat of Mon trose....Ecclesiastical Affairs....King goes to the Scots at Newark.... Eud of the War........ King delivered up by the Scots. WH 'HILE the king's affairs declined in England, some events happened in Scotland, which seemed to promise him a more prosperous issue of the quarrel. MONTROSE'S VICTORIES. BEFORE the commencement of these civil disorders, the earl of Montrose, a young nobleman of a distinguished family, returning from his travels, had been introduced to the king, and had made an offer of his services; but by the insinuations of the marquis, afterwards duke of Hamilton, who possessed much of Charles's confidence, he had not been received with that distinction to which he thought himself justly entitled.' Disgusted with this treatment, he had forwarded all the violence of the covenanters; and, agreeably to the natural ardour of his genius, he had employed himself, during the first Scottish insurrection, with great zeal, as well as success, in levying and conducting their armies. Being commissioned by the Tables to wait upon the king, while the royal army lay at Berwic, he was so gained by the civilities and caresses of that monarch, that he thenceforth devoted himself entirely, though secretly, to his service, and entered into a close correspondence with him. In the second insurrection, a great military command was intrusted to him by the covenanters; and he was the first that passed the Tweed, at the head of their troops, in the invasion of England. He found means, however, soon after to convey a letter to the king: and by the infidelity of some about that prince-Hamilton, as was suspected-a VOL. VIII. I copy of this letter was sent to Leven, the Scottish general. Being accused of treachery, and a correspondence with the enemy, Montrose openly avowed the letter, and asked the generals, if they dared to call their sovereign an enemy: and by this bold and magnanimous behaviour, he escaped the danger of an immediate prosecution. As he was now fully known to be of the royal party, he no longer concealed his principles; and he endeavoured to draw those who had entertained like sentiments, into a bond of association for his master's service. Though thrown into prison for this enterprise, and detained some time, he was not discouraged; but still continued, by his countenance and protection, to infuse spirit into the distressed royalists. Among other persons of distinction, who united themselves to him, was lord Napier of Merchiston, son of the famous inventor of the logarithms, the person to whom the title of GREAT MAN is more justly due, than to any other whom his country ever produced. There was in Scotland another party, who, professing equal attachment to the king's service, pretended only to differ with Montrose about the means of attaining the same end; and of that party, duke Hamilton was the leader. This nobleman had cause to be extremely de. voted to the king, not only by reason of the connexion of blood, which united him to the royal family; but on account of the great confidence and favour with which he had ever been honoured by his master. Being accused by lord Rae, not without some appearance of probability, of a conspiracy against the king; Charles was so far from harbouring suspicion against him, that the very first time Hamilton came to court, he received him into his bedchamber, and passed alone the night with him. But such was the duke's unhappy fate or conduct, that he escaped not the imputation of treachery to his friend and sovereign; and though he at last sacrificed his life in the king's service, his integrity and sincerity have not been thought by historians entirely free from blemish. Perhaps (and this is the more probable opinion) the subtleties and refinements of his conduct and his temporising maxims, though accompanied with good intentions, have been the chief cause of a suspicion, which has never yet been either fully proved or refuted. As much as the bold and vivid spirit of Montrose prompted him to enterprising measures, as much was the cautious temper of Hamilton inclined to such as were moderate and dilatory. While the former foretold that the Scottish covenanters were secretly forming an union with the English parliament, and inculcated the necessity of preventing them by some vigorous undertaking; the latter still insisted, that every such attempt would precipitate them into measures, to which, otherwise, they were not, perhaps, inclined. After the Scottish convention was summoned without the king's authority, the former exclaimed, that their intentions were now visible, and that, if some unexpected blow were not struck, to dissipate them, they would arm the whole nation against the king; the latter maintained the possibility of outvoting the disaffected party, and securing, by peaceful means, the allegiance of the kingdom. Unhappily for the royal cause, Hamilton's representations met with more credit from the king and queen, than those of Montrose; and the covenanters were allowed, without interruption, to proceed in all their hostile measures. Montrose then hastened to Oxford; where his invectives against Hamilton's treachery, concurring with the general prepossession, and supported by the unfortunate event of his counsels, were entertained with universal approbation. Influenced by the clamour of his party, more than his own suspicions, Charles, as soon as Hamilton appeared, sent him prisoner to Pendennis castle in Cornwal. His brother, Laneric, who was also put under confinement, found means to make his escape, and to fly into Scotland. The king's ears were now opened to Montrose's counsels, who proposed none but the boldest and most daring, agreeably to the desperate state of the royal cause in Scotland. Though the whole nation was subjected by the covenanters, though great armies were kept on foot by them, and every place guarded by a vigilant administration; he undertook, by his own credit, and that of the |